Oslo

Alternative forms

• Åslo (obsolete)
• Ósló (nonstandard spelling, dialectal)

Etymology

From Old Norse Ósló, Ásló f or n. The first element is disputed, but is likely from ǫ́ss, áss (“god; one of the Æsir”), from Proto-Germanic *ansuz. The name Ósló then comes from older *Ǫ́sló where the ǫ́ is nasalised (whence the -n- in Dutch Ansloo and Latin Ansloa), from Proto-Norse *ᚨᚾᛊᚢᛚᚨᚢᚺᚢ (*ansulauhu), from Proto-Germanic *ansuz (“god, deity”) + *lauhō f,^[1][2] *lauhaz m (“clearing, meadow”). According to Sandnes and Stemshaug, the name has likely been around since before the first century.^[3]

Another theory is that the first part comes from áss (“hill, beam”), from Proto-Germanic *ansaz, but this is unlikely, as there would be no explanation for ó- found in Ósló. The geologist Tom V. Segalstad has claimed that it comes from Old Norse ufs (“steep mountainside”), based on the Danicised spelling Opsloe.^[4] However, this form was never used in Norwegian, and various borrowings have -n- to signify a nasal vowel, which ufs would not have.

Cognates include Faroese and Icelandic Ósló, Dutch Ansloo and (also Low German) Anslo, and Latin Ansloa, Asloa, Osloa (Latinisations).

Between 1624 and 1925, Oslo referred to the old town of Oslo, a mediaeval town that burnt down in 1624. When the city was rebuilt, king Christian IV of Denmark named the new city Christiania (later spelling: Kristiania) after himself. During the 1800s, various authors would begin taking the old name back and the city officially changed its name to Oslo in 1925. The location of the old town got the name Gamlebyen (literally “Old Town”), now a neighbourhood in the modern city.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /²uslu/, [ˈǔ̞s.lû̞], (Rogaland) [ˈû̞s.lû̞], (parts of Trøndelag) [ˈú̞s.lǔ̞]
• (East Norway) IPA^(key): /²uʂlu/, [ˈú̞ʂ.ɭǔ̞], [ˈú̞ʃ.l̠ǔ̞] (phonemic respelling: Orslo^[5])

  • Audio:

    (file)

• (Setesdal dialect) IPA^(key): [ˈou̯ːs.lou̯ː]
• Rhymes: -slu, -ʃlu
• Hyphenation: Ós‧ló, Ó‧sló

Proper noun

Oslo f

1. Oslo (a county and municipality, the capital city of Norway)
   • 1912, Ivar Aasen, “Um Namnet Oslo”, in Skrifter i samling, page 204:

     Han berre klagar paa det, at Namnet sidan vardt burtskutlat, med di at Kong Kristian IV i Aaret 1624 «hadde det uheppne Innfallet at umbyta det eldgamle ærverdige Namnet Oslo med det nye, sjølvuppfundne og halvbarbariske Namn Christiania». […] Og detta er vel ogso den rettaste Synsmaaten.

     His [P. A. Munch’s] only complaint was that the name was later thrown away, as king Christian IV in the year 1624 “had the unfortunate idea of switching out the old honourable name Oslo with the new, self-invented and half-barbaric name Christiania”. […] And this is probably also the most correct way to look at it.

   • 2000, “Hytta I Oslo [Cabin In oslo]”:

     Folk kjøper seg hytta på Geilo og Gol. Dei vil stå litt på slalåm og slikka litt sol. Eg kjenne det krible, eg har eit begjær: Eg vil ha hytta i Oslo; det er der eg vil vær.

     People buy cabins in Geilo and Gol. They want to stand on slalom and lick some sun. I feel it tingle, I have a lust: I want a cabin in Oslo; there is where I want to be.

2. (historical) a mediaeval town to the east of Bjørvika, now inside the modern city of Oslo, Norway

   Synonym: (modern name) Gamlebyen

   • 1900, Snorri Sturluson, translated by Steinar Schjøtt, Kongesogur [Kings’ sagas]:

     Kong Harald lét byggja ein kaupstad aust i Oslo, og sat der tidt; for de var godt for tilførst der, og de var rike bygdir umkring.

     King Harald had built a merchant town in the East at Oslo, where he often resided; for there was good supply from the extensive cultivated district wide around.

3. ellipsis of Oslo bispedøme (“Diocese of Oslo”).

   bisp i Oslo ― bishop in (the Diocese of) Oslo

References

Further reading

• “Oslo” in Store norske leksikon

Anagrams

• solo

Etymology

Borrowed from Norwegian Oslo.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈɔ.slɔ/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɔslɔ
• Syllabification: O‧slo

Proper noun

Oslo n (indeclinable, related adjective oslowski)

1. Oslo (a county and municipality, the capital and largest city of Norway)

Further reading

• Oslo in Wielki słownik języka polskiego, Instytut Języka Polskiego PAN
• Oslo in Polish dictionaries at PWN
• Oslo in PWN's encyclopedia

Etymology

Borrowed from Norwegian Oslo.

Pronunciation

• Hyphenation: Os‧lo

Proper noun

Oslo

1. Oslo (a county and municipality, the capital city of Norway)

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ôslo/

Proper noun

Ȍslo n (Cyrillic spelling О̏сло)

1. Oslo (a county and municipality, the capital city of Norway)

Etymology

Borrowed from Norwegian Oslo.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ˈɔslɔ]

Proper noun

Oslo n (genitive singular Osla, declension pattern of mesto)

1. Oslo (a county and municipality, the capital city of Norway)

References

• “Oslo”, in Slovníkový portál Jazykovedného ústavu Ľ. Štúra SAV [Dictionary portal of the Ľ. Štúr Institute of Linguistics, Slovak Academy of Science] (in Slovak), https://slovnik.juls.savba.sk, 2003–2025

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈoslo/ [ˈos.lo]
• Rhymes: -oslo
• Syllabification: Os‧lo

Proper noun

Oslo f

1. Oslo (a county and municipality, the capital city of Norway)

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /²ʊslʊ/

• Audio:

  (file)

Proper noun

Oslo n (genitive Oslos)

1. Oslo (a county and municipality, the capital city of Norway)

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /osɫo/

Proper noun

Oslo

1. Oslo (a county and municipality, the capital city of Norway)